Prayer and the Sovereignty of God

Perhaps one of the most important doctrines that will influence our ability to pray is the understanding of God’s Sovereignty.  The idea of God’s Sovereignty is that God is absolutely powerful and in control and as I live my life here on earth, my circumstances and my life have meaning, purpose, and consequence because God wills it so. 

I love how King David encourages us in Psalm 138:7-8 in the midst of his own troubles.  He acknowledged that God is the One who “preserves his life, who stretches out His hand against his enemies, whose right hand delivers him, who will fulfill his purpose for him, because God’s steadfast love endures forever.”  

The idea behind God’s Sovereignty and control does not negate my responsibility towards God and life, but is a doctrine that allows me to rest in who God is, that He is able, and that my circumstances in life can be worked out for the good because God is loving, good and in control. 

An alternative world view to God’s Sovereignty is that the whole burden of life is on my shoulders—that life is simply arbitrary, resigned to fate or chance.  In the Eastern systems of Confucius or Hinduism, we have moral code and whimsical gods who may or may not intervene on my behalf.  In atheism or materialism, God is not there, that the entire direction of my life is in my hands and is because of blind chance.   

The idea that God is Sovereign should immediately relieve us of a 1000 burdens and allow us to surrender and rest in who God is, rather than in our ability and strength.  Again King David in Psalm 62:1-2 reminds us this way, “In God alone my soul finds rest…   He alone is my rock… my fortress, I shall not be greatly shaken.” 

One of the big lessons in the book of Jonah is God’s Sovereignty despite man’s failure.  God persists, God is in control, and God intervenes, despite Jonah’s disobedience and failure.  God reaches out to Jonah to save and redirect, even when the prophet is running away and seeking death itself.

In Jonah 1:17-2:9 we see two beautiful truths.  First, because God is Sovereign and powerful, He is able to intervene and accomplish the miraculous, even having Jonah swallowed alive by a large fish.  God is a God of miracles and is able to intervene anytime in anyway. 

A second truth we will learn this week is that because God’s Sovereignty becomes one of the most important aspects of His nature as it relates to our prayer lives.   We see that in Jonah pray and call out to God in the belly of the fish for salvation.  “I called out to the Lord out of my distress and He answered me.”  (Jonah 2:2) 

We see how Jonah acknowledges the discipline of Lord in Jonah 2:3, “You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the sea… your waves and your billows passed over me.”   Ultimately we see how Jonah acknowledges God in prayer as Savior and Lord, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Jonah 2:9)

We should be encouraged by Jonah’s prayer, when he cried out from an impossible place of death itself, “the belly of Sheol…  God heard His voice.”  It is goodnews that no matter what our circumstance is.  God is not only a God who is Sovereign and all-powerful, but also listens to us when we cry out to Him!